


Fódlan Mascara

by Maerissa



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Fluff and Humor, Gen, Makeup, that tag probably isn't the right kind of makeup whoops
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-17
Updated: 2019-10-17
Packaged: 2020-12-21 10:56:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,218
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21073760
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maerissa/pseuds/Maerissa
Summary: Sylvain takes a bewildered Ashe out for a casual cosmetics shopping trip.





	Fódlan Mascara

**Author's Note:**

> Hastily put-together Ashe and Sylvain bonding content to celebrate Ashe's birthday (half an hour late in my time zone, sue me). Happy, uh, 856th, Ashe!
> 
> (makeup addict Sylvain was workshopped with a friend and very quickly became a total favourite headcanon, i love my beauty-conscious boy... which miiight mean more makeup-themed one-shots? we'll see?)

“Magdred Kirsch-pigment eyeshadow palette… Daphnel bronzer… Sylvain, what’s going on here?”

Ashe took his eyes off the hastily scribbled shopping list he’d been given and looked up quizzically at the man walking beside him. Sylvain had asked him for post-battle favours a couple of times now, and usually he was happy to help (at least until Sylvain revealed his secret girl-related motives, which he somehow always seemed to have) - but this was completely out of Ashe’s comfort zone.

“Hey now, a real knight helps people in need no matter what, yeah?” Sylvain grinned back at Ashe’s concerned expression. “If it’s the money you’re worried about, I told you I’d pay you back right away. And a knight would never go back on his w-”

“Okay, okay,” Ashe sighed. “But still, wouldn’t it be better to ask someone like Mercedes or Annette? At least they would know what half of these words mean. I-I mean, this whole list is so foreign to me…”

Sylvain’s grin turned visibly strained. “Uh, funny you should mention Mercedes, we… may have had a bit of a disagreement regarding the, um, availability of a lady friend of hers...”

Ashe rolled his eyes and made a mental note not to bring up Sylvain during their kitchen duty chats for a couple of days… or weeks.

“But, uh, it’s not just that though, I swear,” Sylvain continued, undeterred. “Growing up the way I did didn’t exactly give me a lot of chances to practice haggling, and some of the imported palettes are  _ damn _ pricey.”

Ashe’s expression brightened as the reason why Sylvain would bring _him_, of all people, on a shopping trip for makeup finally started coming together in his mind.

“O-oh, well, sure! I guess I do have some experience there, even if the shops are really different. Though...” Ashe let out a small chuckle, and Sylvain raised his eyebrows in response.

“Heh, what’s up?”

“Well, the way you chase down and talk to almost every girl you see, I just didn’t imagine you’d have trouble bargaining with merchants.”

“Wow, no mercy, huh,” Sylvain replied, pretending to dramatically wince at Ashe’s words. “Chatting up cute girls is a whole different game from talking numbers. ...I mean, not that you’d know, mister virtuous-baby-knight.”

Ashe quickly turned his head away in a huff, praying Sylvain hadn’t seen his cheeks start to flush. “You know, for someone who’s being done a favour, you could really stand to tease me less.”

“Right, right,” Sylvain chuckled back dismissively.

  
  


“Is this the stall?”

Ashe’s eyes scanned the baskets full of neatly stacked beauty products arranged on the shaded market table - endless tubes of what he assumed was lipstick in different shades of red and pink, and glistening blocks of compressed powder laid out on a pearl white cloth - and froze as they met the disgruntled expression of one of the stall’s owners. He caught himself instinctively preparing an apology for whatever he’d done to deserve her look of shame, and distracted his mind by following the line of her gaze all the way to --  the man standing right next to him, of course.

“Ah. Gautier.” Her words were just barely even icier than her glare.

“Oh, um, Petr… Pami… Priscilla?” Sylvain offered, sheepishly. “I, uh, didn’t realize you were working today!”

Ashe sighed even deeper than before, as the  _ real _ reason Sylvain brought him here became painfully clear.

“Look, I know things didn’t go great last time. My bad. But this time, I swear it was really only a one-time thing. ...And besides, I’m not even the one shopping today.”

Sylvain laid his palm on Ashe’s back and lightly shoved him forward. Losing his balance for a moment made the shopkeeper’s attention shift from Sylvain to him, and her expression visibly softened straight away.

“Oh! Well, hi there, what can I get you?”

As Ashe fumbled with the neatly folded-up shopping list Sylvain had given him, the second, younger merchant leaned over excitedly.

“Is this your first time here? Aww, you’re adorable! And oh wow, your lashes...”

“I- uh, well-,” Ashe stammered, caught off guard by the sudden attention he was getting and feeling his blush return.

“Hey now, ladies, don’t smother my boy all at once. I mean, that said, if you’re looking for someone to smother-” Sylvain cut himself off as both shopkeepers’ glares immediately darted back to him.

“I get it, I get it, I’ll make myself scarce. Don’t forget the list, Ashe!”

The girls gave no attention to Sylvain’s grand exit, as they continued to pore over the details of Ashe’s face.

“With lashes like these,” the younger merchant said excitedly to the other, “you’d go for volume all the way, right? Or maybe...”

  
  


Purchases in hand, Ashe hurried over to his shunned companion, who was looking through the Southern merchant’s newest teas a couple of stalls away.

“Sylvain! I got everything you asked for - at a pretty big discount too - and they even gave me some free samples they said matched my complexion! Look at this, um, lash-thing? They were talking really fast so I can’t remember what they called it, but...”

Sylvain turned around to face Ashe and grabbed his shoulders, looking seriously and sharply into his eyes.

“You gotta teach me. Tell me _everything_.”

Taken aback by Sylvain’s unexpected intensity, Ashe took a quick step back.

“Uh, about the haggling? I-it doesn’t usually go this easily, actually, most times it’s a bit of a battle-”

Sylvain shook his head. “It’s been one  _ hell _ of a while since I got that kind of attention from multiple girls  _ at the same time _ . I mean, they were swarming you! How’d you do it?”

The topic-switching whiplash quickly faded as Ashe remembered it was in fact Sylvain he was talking to - of course that’d be what he focused on.

“I- No, I was just shopping like you asked me to! They told me things about the stuff I was buying, and I asked questions about it, and...”

“Oh, hm.” Sylvain tilted his head slightly and raised his hand to his chin. “Chatting about cosmetics, huh? I guess that’d get them talking, yeah. Not bad, Ashe!”

Trying not to visibly show any of the massive confusion at Sylvain apparently not thinking to talk about makeup with literal makeup merchants - it was Sylvain, after all - Ashe nodded acknowledgingly.

“Anyway, thanks for coming with me today,” Sylvain continued, as they set off back towards Garreg Mach. “You did really help me out, ‘flirting’ and all.”

Ashe smiled back, doing his best to ignore that last part. “Always happy to help!”

“Oh, and while we’re at it, that ‘lash-thing’ they gave you? That’s mascara. It makes your eyelashes look longer or more defined, or colors them - well, that really kinda depends on the ingredients and how they make it - actually, you should join my and Annette’s study session tonight and we’ll show you how to apply it. It’s pretty easy when you get used to it!”

Hearing Sylvain spout off about something unrelated to romance for once made Ashe’s shoulders instinctively relax, as the remaining stress from this shopping adventure started to fade away. Even though he was the one supposed to be doing a favour for Sylvain, Ashe thought, maybe he’d gotten something nice out of this experience himself as well.


End file.
